1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording on a medium.
2. Related Art
As an ink jet printer as an example of a recording apparatus, there is a so-called serial printer having a configuration in which a liquid (ink as an example thereof) is discharged on a medium from the recording head while a carriage, on which a recording head is mounted, reciprocates in a main-scanning direction, and recording is performed.
In addition, the medium as a recording target has various thicknesses, and thus a gap adjusting unit that adjusts a gap between a medium and a recording head is provided in order to cope with the thicknesses in some cases. The gap adjusting unit may be configured to include a cam at an end portion of a guiding shaft that guides a carriage and to cause the cam (carriage guiding shaft) to rotate, and thereby to adjust the gap. An example of a configuration of such a printer is disclosed in JP-A-2006-062305.
In general, a carriage is configured to reciprocate with a driving motor as a power source in which power is transmitted to the carriage via an endless belt. The carriage is guided to a carriage guiding shaft via a bearing (slide bearing) so as to reciprocate in an axial direction (main-scanning direction) (for example, JP-A-2014-104588). A recording apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2014-104588 includes a support frame above the guiding shaft, in addition to the guiding shaft. The carriage is to rotate around the guiding shaft due to the own weight thereof; however, the support frame stops the rotation, and a posture of the carriage is regulated. Hence, the support frame can be referred to as a posture regulating member that regulates a posture of the carriage.
In addition, there has been known a method using a linear scale as a unit that detects a position of a carriage in the main-scanning direction. The linear scale has a length over an entire region of the carriage in a movement direction, and the carriage is provided with an optical sensor that detects the linear scale. Examples of a configuration of such a printer are disclosed in JP-A-2005-081691 and JP-A-2010-194827.
In recent years, there is a demand for a much smaller recording apparatus. Since the printer disclosed in JP-A-2006-062305 includes the cam, which adjusts the gap, at an end portion of the carriage on one side in the movement direction, the width of the apparatus increases in size due to a region occupied by the cam.
In addition, when, in the configuration disclosed in JP-A-2014-104588, the size of the apparatus is reduced in a height direction, the following negative effects arise. Hereinafter, the description is provided with reference to FIG. 39. Reference sign 200 in FIG. 39 represents a carriage. Similarly, reference sign 201 represents an ink cartridge, reference sign 202 represents a recording head, reference sign 203 represents a cap, and reference sign 204 represents a guiding shaft. In addition, reference sign 205 represents a guiding target portion, and reference sign 206 represents a support frame.
Rotation of the carriage 200 around the guiding shaft 204 includes not only the rotation in an arrow b direction due to the own weight of the carriage, but also rotation in an arrow a direction opposite to the arrow b direction. Specifically, the cap 203, which seals the recording head 202, pushes up the recording head 202 in an arrow F direction, and thereby the carriage 200 rotates.
The support frame 206 is formed to have a shape so as to interpose the guiding target portion 205 that configures a part of the carriage 200, such that a guiding surface 206a stops rotation of the carriage 200 in the arrow b direction and a guiding surface 206b stops rotation of the carriage 200 in the arrow a direction.
Normally, in this state, the rotation of the carriage 200 in the arrow b direction due to the own weight is stopped by the guiding surface 206a, and a gap d is formed between the guiding surface 206b and the guiding target portion 205. When the cap 203 pushes up the recording head 202, the carriage 200 rotates until the guiding target portion 205 comes into contact with the guiding surface 206b, that is, the gap d becomes zero.
Here, when a size H is reduced in order to decrease the apparatus in size, more specifically, to achieve a low profile, a rotating amount of the carriage 200 increases until the guiding target portion 205 comes into contact with the guiding surface 206b, that is, the gap d becomes zero. In this manner, since a floating amount S of the top portion of the ink cartridge 201 also increases, a space to an equivalent extent needs to be considered, and thus it is difficult to decrease the size of the apparatus.
In addition, since the printer disclosed in JP-A-2005-081691 has a configuration in which a belt that pulls the carriage and the linear scale overlap in an apparatus-height direction, it is difficult to decrease the size of the apparatus in the apparatus-height direction. In particular, in a printer in which a position of a recording head (carriage) in height changes depending on a thickness of a sheet, the size thereof in the apparatus-height direction needs to much more increase such that an up-and-down moving range of the belt in addition to the linear scale overlap in the apparatus-height direction.
In addition, the printer disclosed in JP-A-2010-194827 includes the linear scale disposed on an inner side of a timing belt formed to have a loop shape; however, in this configuration, a pulley, around which the timing belt loops, increases in diameter, and it is also difficult to reduce the size thereof in the apparatus-height direction. Then, required driving torque increases due to the increase of the diameter of the pulley, and thus there is a shortcoming of an increase in driving motor.